Do You Really Need to Use Diet Pills to Lose Weight?

The fact is, diet pills can be a very useful weight loss supplement. With these pills, you can boost your metabolism, which results in faster weight loss, especially when paired with an excellent diet program.

However, is this really necessary? Do you really need to take questionable supplements with unknown side effects? When it comes down to it, what really matters is your health – being active into middle or old age, seeing your kids or even grandkids grow up, and living a quality, fulfilling life. It’s nice to have abs or a flat stomach, but in the end, that’s just superficial. There are other things that matter more.

So, what does this mean, if anything? Does this mean that you should use fat loss pills in order to trim down to a “healthy weight?” Or does it mean that you’d be better off forgoing the diet pills and attaining optimal health through diet and exercise without taking any form of pills or supplements?

Well, it’s a complicated question. It depends on a multitude of factors, both in regards to your personal cares and preferences as well as common thoughts that are shared between literally every person who wants to lose weight.

For example, exercise doesn’t improve weight loss all that much – if you were to run on the treadmill for 30 minutes, you might burn 300 calories. 300 calories is equal to one scoop of ice cream, 8 oz. of boneless skinless chicken breast, 3 bananas, or a few handfuls of chips. Notice the “or.” To burn off the calories in a few handfuls of chips or a scoop of ice cream, you would have to run for 30 whole minutes. Now, if you wanted to lose weight at a faster pace, would it make more sense to eat less or to exercise more? Well, what’s easier? Skipping that scoop of ice cream or running for 30 minutes? If you’re not an elite runner, just skipping that scoop of ice cream is probably far easier.

So, exercise is not very useful for weight loss. And in the research that is commonly conducted, this is very apparent – increased exercise does not mean increased weight loss. However, there is one factor that increased exercise does seem to improve – weight maintenance once someone has reached a healthy weight.

What does this mean? It means that there is a correlation between exercisers and people who are able to keep the weight off. These exercisers have switched out their old habits (the ones that made them fat) for new habits, which are keeping them skinny. On the otherhand, the non-exercisers have not – which is why they’re more likely to gain the weight back.

The purpose of this article isn’t about exercise and weight loss – it’s about whether or not one should use diet pills to lose weight. However, the example I showed you above is a real life example of why when it comes to long-term weight loss, the biggest factor is changing your bad habits.

Changing Your Habits

If you’ve been overweight for a longtime, you probably have some very bad habits ingrained into the way you act. It took awhile to ingrain these habits into your unconsciousness, so naturally, it’s going to take a bit of time to learn new habits and routines. It is quite possible, though – while most people gain weight back, a select few are able to maintain their new weight.

If you want to learn new habits, it’s important to not use a “crutch” like a weight loss pill to lose weight. After all, you aren’t going to be taking this weight loss pill for the rest of your life, right? Well, if you want to keep that weight off, you might have to – unless you change your habits.

Start by following a quality exercise program (for its health and body composition benefits) and decreasing your total caloric intake while making sure to eat plenty of protein to retain lean-body mass. If you want to stay strong or get stronger, lift weights. If you want to be fast and agile, go for a bike or run, or do some sprints, which are the “in thing” for getting in shape without spending hours upon hours exercising.

With the proper habits, you have a very good change of being fit for life. Whether or not you want to combine these good habits with weight loss pills is your choice – either way, you’re guaranteed a certain level of success. But, of course, if you take the easy route, that success may well be short-lived.

Melissa Becker

Ever since losing over 50 lbs. in 2010, I’ve been writing informative blog posts and reviews for various diet products, such as teas, pills, and supplements. All products have been personally tested, in order to get the full story before posting it on this site.